Hampton Assessor's Office Criticized

An outside audit of the assessor's office in Hampton found a wide array of problems, including staffers so overworked that they spent half of their time entering data into the computer system in City Hall.

"If we don't get the system and the people to talk to each other, this is going to blow up in our faces," said Will Parker, a Hampton resident who works in the Norfolk assessor's office and has been assisting in the city review.

The report, given to the City Council on Wednesday, generally recommended beefing up the assessor's office. That suggestion could frighten some homeowners because a more active assessor is likely to find improvements and additions that have gone unnoticed -- which would raise some home values and tax bills.

Across Hampton Roads, home values have come under increased scrutiny in the past few years, as the hot real estate market has pushed up property taxes for many homeowners. To make sure homes are valued fairly in Hampton, council members and the city manager have vowed to spend more on the assessor's office, but just how much will be unclear until the proposed city budget is released later this week.

The audit, performed by the International Association of Assessing Officers, found that home values in Hampton were largely accurate. However, the auditors still recommended a major overhaul, because of glaring holes in how the office does business.

According to the report, nearly 2,000 properties haven't been fully reassessed since 1997.

In a single field trip, the inspectors also found more than 75 properties that weren't in the city system even though residents had already moved in. The occupancy certificates for the recently built homes hadn't made it to the assessor's office yet -- which means the homeowners weren't paying taxes yet.

"Ultimately we think this is a very fragile system that we believe will collapse," Ed Crapo, of the International Association of Assessing Officers, told the City Council Wednesday. "The only reason it hasn't completely tanked is a testament to the quality of the staff."

Recommendations from the report include:

* Hiring five more appraisers and a temporary clerical worker to do data entry.

* Buying a fleet of cars to make fieldwork easier.

* Better communication with the permitting office to make sure home descriptions are up to date.

* Equipping appraisers with laptop or hand-held computers so they can enter data in the field.

Chief Assessor Richie McKeithen noted that the problems and recommendations are similar to comments he made when he took over the office last fall.

"Initially, when I first got here, I was shell-shocked, to be honest," McKeithen said. But "I don't think that there's a problem here in Hampton that can't be fixed in a couple of years' time."

Councilwoman Angela Leary said the disparity between assessments was one of the central issues of her campaign for council in 2004. She said that increased accuracy would be a good thing, even for those paying higher taxes, because it would improve their ability to secure loans.